“Do you mind if I wear your wedding dress? It’s not like you need it anymore,” smirked the friend.
“I think it suits you. The best choice out of everything you’ve tried,” said Jane, scrutinizing her with a critical eye.
“Your friend’s right. The dress looks lovely on you. Just needs the hem taken up and a slight adjustment at the waist,” remarked the shop assistant in the bridal boutique. “Shall I fetch the veil?”
“I wasn’t planning on wearing one,” Daisy faltered.
“Bring it—just not too long,” Jane interjected, watching as her friend twirled before the mirror, the voluminous skirt swaying gracefully around her legs. Daisy could already picture Anton’s awestruck gaze when he saw her in this dress.
The assistant returned, ceremoniously holding out a delicate tulle veil. With a deft motion, she pinned it into Daisy’s hair.
“Ready for the registry office right now,” the assistant said, smiling at Daisy’s reflection. “Well? Will you take it?”
“What do you think?” Daisy turned to Jane.
“You’re the one getting married—it’s your choice,” her friend replied, unable to hide the flicker of envy in her eyes.
“Yes, we’ll take it,” Daisy said, lifting the hem as she prepared to step down from the platform, but the assistant stopped her.
“Let me fetch the seamstress.”
Daisy sighed, feigning impatience, though secretly pleased to linger a little longer in the dress.
On their way home, the two friends cut through the park. They’d known each other since school. Jane was tall, angular, with sharp features and a long, straight nose. She’d always envied Daisy—her petite, slightly upturned nose, the dimples in her plump cheeks. Even more, she envied Daisy’s normal family—parents who didn’t drink or fight daily. Jane’s father had died two years prior, poisoned by cheap liquor. She’d hoped life with her mother would grow peaceful, but instead, her mother had become jittery and irritable.
Daisy had graduated from a prestigious university faculty, working as a translator for a top firm. Jane, after a distance-learning biology degree, laboured in an environmental testing lab—a job she despised, yet another reason for bitterness.
And now Daisy was getting married. Jane had no interest in Anton, but the mere fact of the wedding gnawed at her. She’d dated, but nothing led to marriage—yet she dreamed of a grand white dress and, more than anything, escape from her mother. Why did everything come so easily to quiet little Daisy?
“You’re not listening at all,” Daisy tugged Jane’s arm.
“What? What did you say?” Jane had been lost in thought.
“I said I’ll toss the bouquet to you at the wedding—then you’ll be next to marry. Oh, look, that woman sells jewelry. I noticed her yesterday but was in a rush. Let’s have a look.” Daisy pulled Jane toward a bench where an elderly woman had laid out a tray of cheap trinkets. The sun caught the baubles, making them glitter, though passersby paid little attention.
“Look at this little ring,” Daisy held up a delicate band with a white stone. “May I try it?”
“No charge to try. But I won’t sell it to you,” the woman said abruptly.
“Why not?” Daisy frowned, reluctant to let go of the ring.
“You’ll soon wear a wedding band. Mixing metals is poor taste,” the woman chided. “Better look at this.” She rummaged before offering a polished metal pendant on a delicate chain, its surface gleaming like a mirror.
“Daise, why bother with that junk?” Jane sneered.
“It’s unusual. How much is it?” Daisy ignored her.
“Whatever you think fair. Take it—it’ll bring you happiness.”
“She’s happy enough already,” Jane cut in.
“And you’re jealous,” the woman shot back with a stern glance.
Daisy fished out three five-pound notes and handed them over.
“That’s all I’ve got,” she admitted sheepishly.
“It’s enough. Wear it in good health.”
As they walked away, Daisy fastened the pendant around her neck.
“Well?” she asked.
“Interesting,” Jane replied flatly, though she secretly liked it.
A week later, Daisy returned to the boutique during her lunch break to collect the altered dress. Satisfied with the perfect fit, she changed while the assistant packed it into a large box.
“It’s so bulky—I can’t take this to work!” Daisy fretted.
“Take a cab home, or leave it here till evening.”
Leaving the box, Daisy hurried back to the office. She rang Anton repeatedly, but he didn’t pick up—unusual for a programmer who always kept his line open for clients.
Uneasy, she left early and went to his flat. The door swung open—but it was Jane standing there, wearing Anton’s shirt, the pendant glinting at her throat.
“What are you doing here?” Daisy’s voice shook. “Where’s Anton?”
“Exhausted. Sleeping.” Jane smirked.
Daisy shoved past her. Anton lay on the sofa, bare-chested, the lower half of him covered by a throw.
“Anton!” she shouted. His lashes fluttered, but he didn’t wake.
“Convinced?” Jane’s voice dripped with amusement.
Daisy whirled around. “How could you?” Shoving Jane aside, she fled, tears streaming.
By the time her mother returned from work, Daisy was curled on the sofa, sobbing into her knees. She confessed everything—the wedding was off.
“Don’t rush, love. We need to understand what happened,” her mother soothed.
“I saw it with my own eyes!”
“I never liked that friend of yours. But speak to Anton.”
“Never!”
Yet they did meet. Anton waited outside her work the next morning.
“Daisy, listen. I don’t love Jane. I don’t even remember—she came over, asked for help finding something online. The last thing I recall is drinking tea with her.”
“That’s it? You don’t remember sleeping with her?” She tried to push past, but he caught her wrist.
“I remember nothing. I love you. Please—”
She wrenched free and ran.
Though she missed him, forgiveness felt impossible. Then Jane arrived with news—she was pregnant. She and Anton would marry.
“You don’t mind if I wear your wedding dress, do you? It’s not like you’ll need it now,” Jane sneered.
Three weeks later, Daisy watched from her window as a ribbon-festooned car pulled up next door. Anton stepped out, glancing toward her house. For a moment, she thought he looked straight at her. She recoiled, heart hammering.
When she dared peek again, the car still waited. Her own mother was helping Jane inside, lifting the dress’s voluminous skirt—Daisy’s wedding dress. Anton must’ve already been seated.
A sob tore free. She collapsed onto her bed, weeping as if her heart would break. Life blurred into numb disbelief. She remembered removing the pendant from the park woman, tucking it away—yet Jane had stolen it, just as she’d stolen Daisy’s happiness.
The newlyweds moved into Anton’s flat. Daisy was glad to avoid them—until she bumped into Jane’s mother at the local shop.
“Hello, dear. How are you?”
“Fine, Aunt Mary.”
“Jane’s having a boy. She treated you badly, but they seem… settled. Try to forgive—”
“Please, don’t.” Daisy hurried away.
By New Year’s Eve, Daisy had nearly drowned her sorrows in festive shopping. Laden with bright, useless trinkets, she nearly collided with Jane pushing a pram.
“Hello!” Jane beamed as if nothing had happened. “Been shopping? I never get the time now. Little Victor’s so clingy—you should see the way he—”
“I have to go.” Daisy fumbled with her keys, ignoring Jane’s cheerful “Happy New Year!” as she fled inside.
Winter thawed into spring. Icicles dripped from rooftops, birds sang, and people shed their gloom like heavy coats. One evening, Daisy spotted an ambulance outside Jane’s mother’s building. Anton stood there, hollow-eyed. When he saw her, neither moved.
“Hello. Was that Aunt Mary they took?” Her voice stayed steady despite her pounding heart.
“Heart attack,” he murmured.
Daisy studied him—the weight loss, the weariness. For a fleeting second, it was as if none of it had happened.
“I should get back. Victor’s alone,” he said without moving.
“And Jane?” she whispered.
“Jane… didn’t work out. Our son irritated her. She left. Her mum’s looking after him, but I visit daily.” He turned to leave, then hesitated. “I should go—Victor might be crying.”
Daisy watched him run inside.
Days passed. She searched for him with the pram but never crossed paths—until a Saturday morning weeks later, when her mother whispered that Anton had come to talk.She opened the door to find Anton standing there, holding a single white rose and the polished pendant that had once brought her hope, and in that moment, she knew their love had weathered the storm after all.
